Local boaters are winners in Cabo San Lucas Race

The racing division of the Del Rey Yacht Club can hold its head high this month as two of their own just came back from Cabo San Lucas winners in their respective classes in the 2006 Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas Race.

The race was hosted by the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Harbor.

Ross Pearlman, skipper of Between the Sheets, a Jeanneau 52, and Phillip Friedman, of Black Knight, a Farr 39, sailed the 790-mile course from Southern California down to Southern Mexico in beautiful sailing conditions.

Some of the hottest boats on the Southern California racing scene took part in the offshore contest, with Magnitude 80, Medicine Man, Peligroso, Grand Illusion and many others all lined up to compete in this popular international yachting competition.

In the Americap C class, Pearlman’s Between the Sheets beat the competition handily, further solidifying his reputation as a first-class offshore racer.

Pearlman recently won the prestigious Transpac race from Los Angeles to Hawaii and he has won many California-to-Mexico contests as well.

He has sailed the boat to Hawaii three times and down the coast of Mexico on eight separate occasions.

“We had a great time and things worked out well for us,” said Pearlman. “It wasn’t a heavy air race.

“But most of the time it was an average of a good 15-knots of breeze the whole way down and then we got some big stuff at the end, so it was an exciting race. We all had a good time.”

For Between the Sheets, the conditions could hardly have been better. It’s a heavy boat and 15 knots is the perfect wind speed to play to all her strengths.

Pearlman and his eight-person crew maximized their situation and made few mistakes through the four-and-a-half-day downwind run.

The crew of Black Knight also ran a near flawless race. From the start line, they immediately headed far offshore to find more wind, and they found it.

Friedman headed out about 60 miles off the coast and was greeted by a 15-to-20-knot breeze that pushed his Farr 39 along at a solid clip for quite a while.

“It’s a really good all-around boat,” Friedman said of Black Knight. “There are boats that’ll beat it in certain conditions, but on an overall average, it’s a very good boat.”

Black Knight reached speeds of up to 17 knots during the journey and the six-person crew sailed the race impeccably.

As in any other high-level competition — whether it’s professional tennis, golf, chess, etc. — the fewest number of mistakes is what often decides the contest.

It’s arguable that this fact is no more prevalent in any other sport than in yacht racing.

According to Friedman, the crew of Black Knight made very few errors and executed brilliantly.

“We didn’t make a single mistake the whole race,” said Friedman. “In terms of a setting, wrapping or any other way of slowing the boat down. The crew did a very, very good job.”

In all likelihood, both Pearlman and Friedman will be back in international waters again at the end of the month sailing in the famous Newport to Ensenada Race and with a little luck they will once again be complimenting their crews in the newspapers and smiling wide at a Mexican trophy ceremony.